Forest by the sea
2/05/2007 12:00:00 a.m.
IT took three days for a forest to spring up along Cobham Drive.
However it is not a natural forest of leaves and branches but man-made. Called Wellington Urban Forest, it is a sculpture by Dutch artist Leon van den Eijkel and it looks like a giant child’s toy building blocks.
"The whole Urban Forest idea came to me when I arrived in New Zealand in 1986," says van den Eijkel.
"I remember seeing a large kauri tree – and you know how big they get – for the first time. As an adult standing next to one you shrink, and you feel like a small child."
The experience brought back memories of growing up in Holland at the end of World War II when all the trees where he lived had been cut down for heating.
"At five years old I had never seen a real tree before so I would collect pieces of glass and wood and make my own trees. When I came here I thought it would be nice to develop that idea further."
Van den Eijkel, who lived in Wellington for 11 years, says the location of his sculpture means a lot to him.
"I would walk along Evans Bay to my brother’s house every Sunday for a roast dinner. The 15 colours of the cubes are based on the various colours I saw in the clouds and sky on my walk.
"The light is brighter in the Pacific than in Europe making the colours in the sky more brilliant."
The sculpture joins three other wind sculptures commissioned by the Wellington Sculpture Trust as part of the Meridian Energy Wind Sculpture Walk.
Wellington Sculpture Trust chairman Neil Plimmer says the "cheerful piece" makes a very bold statement along Cobham Drive and complements the sculptures there already.
"Each of the sculptures respond to wind, and each one is totally different to the other. Pacific Grass bends in the wind, the Zephyr pivots in the wind, the Tower of Light lights up neon according to the wind, and Urban Forest has cubes that spin in the wind."
Two more sculptures are scheduled to be installed by mid - 2008.
